Full set includes the quickstart guide, the USB charger, the AC charger, two sets of ear loop stabilizers (comes in 2 sizes), 4 pairs of ear buds (of different sizes as well), the headset itself, the stereo plug-in cable and a nice little pouch.

The headset

Wearing method 1: without the ear loop stabilizer. Since I’m so used to wearing these Bluetooth headset with the ear loop stabilizer attached to it, I was kind of afraid that if I didn’t, it would fall off pretty easily. For the Voyager 855, since it comes with 4 different sizes of ear buds, once you find the pair that gives you the perfect fit, the Voyager 855 can actually be worn without the ear loop stabilizer and it fits pretty nicely. Only downside, the voice will sound a bit muffled if the boom is not extended.

The boom extended during call for optimal voice clarity. By sliding the boom, you can receive or end a call and it does gives you that trekkie look.

Wearing method 2: with the ear loop stabilizer.

The ear buds and the ear loop stabilizer

I mentioned that the ear buds and the ear loop stabilizers came in different sizes, let’s take a closer look.

The USB charger

The USB charger is bendable and is really cool.

The audio sound quality

After trying it out on different genres of music, podcasts and video podcasts, I can say that the sound quality is not bad at all albeit the bass is a bit weak when listening to some of my rock tunes. The vocals do stand out fairly well.

As for call quality, this is where we have been getting mixed reviews. A number of local forums reported that when using the Voyager 855, the user can hear very well but the other party would find that the call quality unacceptable. Well, I tried it out extensively yesterday in different testing environments such as the train station, the shopping mall and on the street and the results indicated that there are some static interferences experienced during calls; echo is a bit high and the wind noise reduction was basically non-existent. Plantronics earlier models have windsmart technology (Voyager 510) or the windscreen (Voyager 520) but the Voyager 855 replaced that with the new AudioIQ noise reduction technology which is not quite up to standard according to the test results. But when tested in a quiet environment such as the office, the echo is a bit less and the call quality improved.

The conclusion?

Well, would I be recommending it? The answer is I am not sure about it yet. The design, the light weight and the comfort of wearing it are all major pluses but if a Bluetooth headset cannot perform its utmost important task, i.e. having decent call quality, I will put the decision on hold until more testings are conducted. I will have to take a few more days testing it out with different phones and see if it is just a problem with the phones I used in terms of pairing and compatability (iPhone and HTC Touch used in testing). Will report back so stay tuned.

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I also have a 855AIQ and I use it with my 838Pro, the other party reported that the volume is too low, hard to hear what I said. I feel very down when they ask me to stop using this expensive handfree. I am thinking about should I go to the shop and ask for a replacement or send it back to distributor for repair.

I fell you totally. Well, to start off, the headset you bought function both as a headset for phone calls and a stereo headset. The call quality may not be so good, but still usable. Unless there’s a return policy from where you got it, you’re pretty much stuck with it as I don’t think they can repair it (they see nothing wrong with it), just hope for a factory recall, LOL. As for a stereo headset, it functions pretty well, so it’s not a total loss.

I was just using it during lunch just now, watching podcast over my iPhone and I really enjoy the light weight and comfort. For me the call quality although not exceptionally good, but ain’t that bad. I suspect it performs differently with different phones. Try it out with other Bluetooth phones.

Thanks. On the other hand, I am using the 665 AIQ with my TYTN II. Different model but the same AIQ technology. The party on the other side has no big complaint about the background noise when I am walking in the shopping mall but hardly to hear my voice. Hence I think the AIQ just lower the sound transmited. When I am driving, that’s perfect.

[…] my iPhone 3Gs, been wanting to get a new pair of Bluetooth headset to listen to my podcasts as my Plantronics Voyager 855 finally gave up on me (the connection on the detachable earpiece cable worn off), though still work […]

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